Rocket Scores Direct Hit on Ashdod Synagogue

Three wounded and synagogue damaged by rocket fired from Gaza. Follows third rocket attack on kindergarten earlier Friday.

By Uzi Baruch

First Publish: 8/22/2014, 3:48 PM

Damage to Ashdod synagogue

Arutz Sheva

A rocket fired by terrorists in Gaza has caused considerable damage to a synagogue in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod.

Paramedics from the United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom emergency organizations rushed to the scene, after a massive explosion was heard. Three people were injured and have been evacuated for further medical treatment after receiving first aid.

Medical sources described two of the victims as males, aged 25 and 26, who suffered shrapnel injuries to their extremities. They have been evacuated to the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot.

The third victim, a 40-year-old woman, suffered injuries to her torso, and has been evacuated to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.

Several others were treated at the scene for shock.

The rocket strike in Ashdod is the latest in a barrage of some 40 rockets fired from Gaza Friday.

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Earlier in the day, a 54-year-old man was moderately wounded in a rocket attack on the southern city of Be'er Sheva.

Shortly afterwards, a rocket struck just 12 meters from a kindergarten packed with children and teachers. It was part of a five-rocket salvo from Gaza; the Iron Dome intercepted two others over the city of Ashkelon, and three fell on communities in the western Negev, one of which struck close to the kindergarten.

Luckily, no one was wounded in the attack as the kindergarten building - like most in southern Israel - was equipped with bomb shelters, and all of the building's occupants managed to reach safe areas.

Also on Friday, a long-range J-80 rocket slammed into an open field in the Gush Dan region, near Tel Aviv. IDF sources say the rocket was fired from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

In response to continued rocket fire, the Israeli Air Force struck some 50 terror targets in Gaza on Friday, including rocket launchers and silos, and weapons stores.